UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini is calling for his agency to play a central role in the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip, despite the organization’s ties with the Hamas terrorist organization.

“UNRWA, with its thousands of Palestinian personnel, has the capacity, expertise and community trust required to provide healthcare, education and other public services to a devastated population,” Lazzarini wrote in an op-ed published in The Guardian.

“For decades,” he added, “the agency’s teachers, doctors and engineers have formed a vital part of a functioning system of public services for millions of Palestinian refugees in Gaza and the region.”

Lazzarini also cited a recent advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which he said “reaffirmed the professionalism of UNRWA’s staff, underlined the agency’s indispensable humanitarian role and concluded that UNRWA remains an impartial and neutral actor.”

UNRWA has long been criticized for its cooperation with Hamas. That criticism has increased since Israel revealed in 2024 that UNRWA staff participated in the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks.

It then presented a dossier showing that the UNRWA workers who participated in the Hamas massacre kidnapped a woman, handed out ammunition and actively took part in the massacre at Kibbutz Be’eri, where 97 people were murdered.

Following the Israeli revelations, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced the creation of a review group, headed by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, to look into the Israeli allegations.

The group, which released its report last April, said it found neutrality-related issues” in UNRWA but also claimed that Israel had yet to provide evidence for allegations that a significant number of its staff were members of terrorist organizations.

Emily Damari, a former Hamas hostage who was freed after 470 days in captivity, said that she was held at an UNRWA facility while in captivity.

In April 2025, USAID revealed that the United Nations obstructed an investigation by the American government into the ties between UNRWA employees in Gaza and the Hamas terrorist organization.

Despite all this evidence, the ICJ ruled last month that Israel must facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip through UN agencies, including UNRWA. That ruling was criticized by Israel as well as by the US.